Health

(NEW YORK) — A third death has been reported in connection to a multi-state outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections that has been linked to a Boar’s Head deli meat recall.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that since a previous update on July 31, nine more cases of listeria had been reported, including one new death in Virginia.

In total, there have been 43 illnesses leading to hospitalization.

The announcement also stated that the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Division of Food Safety and Inspection “collected unopened Boar’s Head liverwurst products from retail stores and the New York State Food Laboratory identified Listeria monocytogenes” and that “[whole-genome sequencing] determined it to be the same strain as the strain making people sick in this outbreak.”

Boar’s Head previously expanded its original July 26 recall on several types of deli meats to include an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that may be contaminated with listeria.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service initially announced that Boar’s Head Provisions Co. had recalled 71 products produced between May 10, 2024, and July 29, 2024, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names.

The announcement was an expansion on a previous recall announcement amid an ongoing investigation by the CDC into an outbreak of listeria infections linked to meats sliced at delis that had sickened 34 people across 13 states.

ABC News’ Good Morning America has reached out to Boar’s Head for comment on the recall.

Details of Boar’s Head deli meat recall

The Virginia-based meat producer initially recalled approximately 207,528 pounds of products that were distributed to retail deli locations nationwide, including all liverwurst products and “additional deli meat products that were produced on the same line and on the same day as the liverwurst” that could be “adulterated with L. monocytogenes.”

Boar’s Head deli meat recalled product information

“On July 30, Boar’s Head expanded their July 26 recall to include all deli products, including prepackaged deli products, in shelf life from this establishment,” the CDC stated previously. “Look for “EST. 12612” or “P-12612″ inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels.”

The items “include meat intended for slicing at retail delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold at retail locations,” FSIS stated Wednesday. “These products have ‘sell by’ dates ranging from 29-JUL-2024 through 17-OCT-24.”

Click here for the full list of product details with item numbers, brand names and sell by dates.

The ready-to-eat liverwurst products were produced between June 11, 2024, and July 17, 2024, and have a 44-day shelf life.

Recalled liverwurst products include 3.5-pound loaves in plastic casing, or “various weight packages sliced in retail delis,” according to the FSIS, and are labeled “Boar’s Head Strassburger Brand Liverwurst MADE IN VIRGINIA.”

The products, which the FSIS said were shipped to retailers, bear sell by dates ranging from July 25 to Aug. 30, 2024. Sell by dates are printed on the side of the packaging.

Click here for images with full label details.

Additional ready-to-eat deli meats subject to recall

• 9.5-pound and 4.5-pound full product, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head VIRGINIA HAM OLD FASHIONED HAM” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 4-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head ITALIAN CAPPY STYLE HAM” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 6-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head EXTRA HOT ITALIAN CAPPY STYLE HAM” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 4-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head BOLOGNA” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 2.5-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head BEEF SALAMI” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 5.5-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head STEAKHOUSE ROASTED BACON HEAT & EAT” with sell by date “AUG 15” on the product packaging.
• 3-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head GARLIC BOLOGNA” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.
• 3-pound, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis, containing “Boar’s Head BEEF BOLOGNA” with sell by date “AUG 10” on the product packaging.

The recalled products bear establishment number “EST. 12612” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels.

The above products were produced on June 27, 2024, according to Boar’s Head.

What prompted the Boar’s Head recall

According to the USDA, the problem was discovered when the FSIS “was notified that a sample collected by the Maryland Department of Health tested positive for L. monocytogenes.”

“The Maryland Department of Health, in collaboration with the Baltimore City Health Department, collected an unopened liverwurst product from a retail store for testing as part of an outbreak investigation of L. monocytogenes infections,” the agency stated previously. “Further testing is ongoing to determine if the product sample is related to the outbreak. Anyone concerned about illness should contact a healthcare provider.”

Details of listeria outbreak linked to deli meats

The FSIS is currently working with the CDC as well as state public health partners to investigate a multi-state outbreak of listeria infections linked to meats sliced at delis, USDA officials said.

According to the CDC, “All 43 people have been hospitalized and three deaths have now been reported, one from Illinois, one from New Jersey, and, as of this update, one from Virginia.”

As of Aug. 8, states involved in the outbreak included Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

“Samples were collected from sick people from May 29, 2024, to July 12, 2024,” the USDA stated, adding that “the investigation is ongoing.”

In a notice published July 19, the CDC stated that many of those sickened in the outbreak had reported eating meat that they had sliced at deli counters.

“Investigators are collecting information to determine the specific products that may be contaminated,” the CDC stated.

“Listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands and food,” the agency added. “Refrigeration does not kill Listeria, but reheating to a high enough temperature before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats.”

Symptoms, side effects of listeria

According to the CDC, listeria can cause severe illness “when the bacteria spread beyond the gut to other parts of the body” after a person consumes contaminated food. Those at higher risk include pregnant people, those aged 65 or older, or anyone who has a weakened immune system, the CDC says.

“If you are pregnant, it can cause pregnancy loss, premature birth, or a life-threatening infection in your newborn,” the CDC states on its website. “Other people can be infected with Listeria, but they rarely become seriously ill.”

According to the CDC, anyone infected with listeria may experience “mild food poisoning symptoms” such as diarrhea or fever, and many recover without antibiotic treatment.

An estimated 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die, according to the CDC.

An earlier version of this story was originally published July 26, 2024. 

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(NEW YORK) — A new study suggests a popular artificial sweetener found in everything from drinks and baked goods to gum and candy could be linked to a higher risk of blood clots, but the researchers themselves say their findings are preliminary and more research is needed to understand any potential health risks.

Erythritol, a zero-calorie sweetener widely used in sugar replacement or reduced-sugar products, was found to increase levels of proteins associated with blood clotting compared to regular sugar, according to a new study published Thursday in the medical journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

“This research raises some concerns that a standard serving of an erythritol-sweetened food or beverage may acutely stimulate a direct clot-forming effect,” the study’s co-author, Dr. W. H. Wilson Tang, research director for Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement announcing the study’s findings. “Erythritol and other sugar alcohols that are commonly used as sugar substitutes should be evaluated for potential long-term health effects especially when such effects are not seen with glucose itself.”

For the study, 10 people were randomly assigned to drink water mixed with 30 grams of erythritol, while another 10 individuals were randomly assigned to drink water mixed with 30 grams of glucose.

The amount of 30 grams was chosen because it is the quantity commonly found in erythritol-containing foods, according to the Cleveland Clinic researchers who led the study.

The people who drank water mixed with erythritol were found 30 minutes later to have a higher level of proteins involved in platelet clumping in their bloodstream compared to those who drank glucose.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is naturally found in fruits such as watermelons, pears and grapes, but has since been processed as a food additive used to sweeten and enhance the flavor of foods, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

According to Cleveland Clinic researchers, erythritol is produced through fermenting corn.

Consuming high amounts of sugar carries its own risk.

Due to a growing obesity epidemic, artificial sweeteners are becoming increasingly common ingredients found in soft drinks, “diet” foods and other processed products. Although federal regulatory agencies like the FDA have deemed most artificial sweeteners as safe, studies are ongoing about the long-term health effects.

A previous study on erythritol from researchers at Cleveland Clinic found that higher levels of erythritol were found among patients who experienced a major adverse cardiovascular event — which includes stroke, heart attack, blood clots and cardiovascular death — over three years of observation.

Last year, the World Health Organization issued a new recommendation that people who are trying to lose weight should avoid using zero-calorie non-sugar sweeteners.

Zero-calorie non-sugar sweeteners have not been shown to help with weight loss long-term in children or adults, and their use may bring side effects like increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes and death in adults, the WHO said at the time.

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(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 has significantly fallen as a leading cause of death in the U.S. for the first time since the pandemic began, according to new provisional data published Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2023, the virus was the tenth-leading cause of death among Americans, down from the fourth-leading cause in 2022 and the third-leading cause of death between March 2020 and October 2021.

The report also found that overall deaths fell significantly from 2022 to 2023.

The report did not go into reasons for why deaths have fallen, but Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said likely reasons include the prevention of COVID fatalities through vaccines, treatments for early onset illness and a better overall understanding of the virus.

“Being on the other side of the pandemic played a big part in seeing this overall mortality rate go down,” he said. ‘This is, in large part, related to the public health effort, especially vaccines that, of course, saved so many lives.”

For the report, researchers looked at preliminary death certificate data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System.

In 2023, there were about 3.09 million deaths in the U.S. with an age-adjusted rate of 750.4 deaths per 100,000 people. This is a decrease of 6.1% from the rate of 798.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2022.

Additionally, death rates were highest among males, older adults and Black Americans, according to the report.

The three leading causes of death in the U.S. were heart disease, cancer and unintentional injury, respectively, which is unchanged from 2022.

Last year marked the first time since the pandemic began that COVID-19 was not one of the top five leading causes of death. Provisional data showed COVID-19 was the underlying cause for 1.6% of all deaths in 2023, decreasing from 5.7% in 2022.

The COVID-19 death rate fell from 58.7 per 100,000 deaths in 2022 to 18.2 per 100,000 in 2023, the report found.

The number of COVID-19-associated deaths fell from 2023 across all age groups and racial/ethnic groups.

Death rates from COVID-19 were highest among those aged 75 and older — highlighting the impact the virus has had on the elderly population. However, the gap between death rates among racial/ethnic groups shrunk from 2022 to 2023.

In 2022, the COVID death rate for white Americans was 58.6 per 100,000 compared to 71.0 per 100,000 for Black Americans. In 2023, the rate was 19.6 per 100,000 for white Americans and 17 per 100,000 for Black Americans.

“Because of the wide disparities that exist in COVID-related deaths, and we know that COVID deaths were not equal across the population, especially hit…Black populations and other and African American people, it’s not surprising that when you overall reduce COVID deaths, that will overall contribute to potentially sort of a closing of the gap,” Brownstein said.

He added that there is more work to be done to close the gap even further, including providing access to health care and insurance for traditionally underserved populations.

Brownstein also said he hopes more efforts can be made to reduce deaths from traditional leading causes of death such as heart disease and cancer.

“We’ve made a big dent in COVID as a result of response efforts,” he said. “But now there’s still such an important effort to deal with some of these other leading causes of death. These data are important because they can help from an awareness perspective and an allocation of research resources.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 has significantly fallen as a leading cause of death in the U.S. for the first time since the pandemic began, according to new provisional data published Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2023, the virus was the tenth-leading cause of death among Americans, down from the fourth-leading cause in 2022 and the third-leading cause of death between March 2020 and October 2021.

The report also found that overall deaths fell significantly from 2022 to 2023.

The report did not go into reasons for why deaths have fallen, but Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said likely reasons include the prevention of COVID fatalities through vaccines, treatments for early onset illness and a better overall understanding of the virus.

“Being on the other side of the pandemic played a big part in seeing this overall mortality rate go down,” he said. ‘This is, in large part, related to the public health effort, especially vaccines that, of course, saved so many lives.”

For the report, researchers looked at preliminary death certificate data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System.

In 2023, there were about 3.09 million deaths in the U.S. with an age-adjusted rate of 750.4 deaths per 100,000 people. This is a decrease of 6.1% from the rate of 798.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2022.

Additionally, death rates were highest among males, older adults and Black Americans, according to the report.

The three leading causes of death in the U.S. were heart disease, cancer and unintentional injury, respectively, which is unchanged from 2022.

Last year marked the first time since the pandemic began that COVID-19 was not one of the top five leading causes of death. Provisional data showed COVID-19 was the underlying cause for 1.6% of all deaths in 2023, decreasing from 5.7% in 2022.

The COVID-19 death rate fell from 58.7 per 100,000 deaths in 2022 to 18.2 per 100,000 in 2023, the report found.

The number of COVID-19-associated deaths fell from 2023 across all age groups and racial/ethnic groups.

Death rates from COVID-19 were highest among those aged 75 and older — highlighting the impact the virus has had on the elderly population. However, the gap between death rates among racial/ethnic groups shrunk from 2022 to 2023.

In 2022, the COVID death rate for white Americans was 58.6 per 100,000 compared to 71.0 per 100,000 for Black Americans. In 2023, the rate was 19.6 per 100,000 for white Americans and 17 per 100,000 for Black Americans.

“Because of the wide disparities that exist in COVID-related deaths, and we know that COVID deaths were not equal across the population, especially hit…Black populations and other and African American people, it’s not surprising that when you overall reduce COVID deaths, that will overall contribute to potentially sort of a closing of the gap,” Brownstein said.

He added that there is more work to be done to close the gap even further, including providing access to health care and insurance for traditionally underserved populations.

Brownstein also said he hopes more efforts can be made to reduce deaths from traditional leading causes of death such as heart disease and cancer.

“We’ve made a big dent in COVID as a result of response efforts,” he said. “But now there’s still such an important effort to deal with some of these other leading causes of death. These data are important because they can help from an awareness perspective and an allocation of research resources.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, ended weeks of speculation after selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday.

During his time as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and governor of the North Star State, Walz has pushed for access to abortion and other reproductive health care. He’s also lowered drug prices and has proposed a public buy-in option for insurance.

Here’s where Walz stands on various health care issues:

Reproductive rights

Walz has been a supporter of abortion rights and was vocal about protecting access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

In January 2023, he signed the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, which says everyone has a “fundamental right to make decisions about reproductive health” including abortion care, fertility treatments, contraception, sterilization and other care.

Prior to the PRO Act being signed, Minnesota already had strong abortion laws. The state does not prohibit abortion based on how far along someone is in their pregnancy and a 1995 state Supreme Court case held that the state Constitution protects the right to choose to have an abortion.

Walz, however, said the law is a “firewall against efforts to reverse reproductive freedom.”

In April 2023, he also signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act, which protects patients who travel to Minnesota to seek abortion care — as well as abortion providers — from legal action in other states.

Additionally, when Harris became the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic run by Planned Parenthood this year, she was joined by Walz.

The governor has also spoken about protecting access to fertility treatments and IVF. The issue is a personal one for Walz; his wife, Gwen, underwent IVF procedures for years before welcoming the first of their two children.

“When my wife and I decided to have children, we spent years going through infertility treatments,” Walz said Tuesday during his first joint appearance with Harris at a rally in Philadelphia. “I remember praying every night for a call for good news, the pit in my stomach when the phone rang and the agony when we heard that the treatments hadn’t worked.”

Access to health insurance

During his inaugural speech in 2019, Walz called health care “a basic human right.”

“What Minnesotans want from their health care is simple,” he said. “They don’t want to get sick in the first place. But if they do, they want care at a price they can afford and at a location close to home.”

During his time in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from 2007 to 2019, Walz voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the landmark health care bill that was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama.

Walz and the Democratic leadership in Minnesota have attempted to expand MinnesotaCare, the state’s public health insurance program, to allow all residents — regardless of income — the option to buy in.

There are two bills currently under consideration in the Minnesota Legislature – HF 4745 and SF 4778 — but the governor’s office told local media the bills would not likely pass this year.

The governor has worked to expand access to health care with a record 146,445 residents signing up for private health plans for 2024 during the open enrollment period for MNsure, the state’s official health insurance marketplace, the governor’s office said.

Capping drug prices

In 2020, Walz signed the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act, allowing those in urgent need of insulin to go to their pharmacy once in a 12-month period and receive a one-time, 30-day supply of insulin for a $35 co-pay.

The long-term component of the law allows eligible individuals to receive insulin for up to one year, with an option to renew, and receive a 90-day supply with a co-pay cap of $50.

The governor also announced earlier this year that the state’s Department of Health was publishing a list of more than 300 drugs whose prices will be required to be reported by manufacturers, wholesale retailers and pharmacies.

These policies are similar to those implemented under the Biden-Harris administration. The cost of insulin has been capped at $35 per month for many Americans, and the federal government has begun direct price negotiations on 10 widely used drugs paid for by Medicare Part D, with plans to add more drugs to the list in the future.

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(NEW YORK) — Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ reported higher rates of poor mental health and experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors than their cisgender and heterosexual peers, a new U.S. survey found.

In 2023, more than three in five LGBTQ+ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or another non-heterosexual identity — high school students said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and more than half reported having poor mental health, according to the latest results of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, published Tuesday morning by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Across all of those outcomes that we looked at, experience of violence, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, we do see this really significant disparity between LGBTQ+ young people and their cisgender and heterosexual peers,” Dr. Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s division of adolescent and school health, told ABC News. “That has been the case for a while.”

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is conducted every other year and surveys thousands of high school-age children from public and private schools between grades 9 and 12 across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Ethier said 2023 was the first year that a question on transgender identity was included in the national survey “and so it’s the first time that we’re really able to look at that group as a whole, and the findings are quite stark, as they have been in previous years.”

LGBTQ+ students were more likely than their peers to report experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, according to the survey.

In 2023, 65% said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness during the past year compared to 31% of cisgender and heterosexual peers, according to the survey. Additionally, 53% said they experienced poor mental health during the last 30 days in comparison to 21% of their peers, they survey said.

The report also found that 41% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year and one in five — 20% — did attempt suicide.

LGBTQ+ students were also at higher risk of substance use than their peers. In 2023, LGBTQ+ high school students said they were about twice as likely to have ever used illicit drugs and prescription opioids.

The report found that 26% of LGBTQ+ students said they drank alcohol in the past 30 days compared to 21% of cisgender and heterosexual students. Additionally, 25% of LGBTQ+ students said they used marijuana compared to 14% of their peers.

It also found that 18% of LGBTQ+ students reported having ever misused prescription opioids and 15% reported having ever used illicit drugs. Comparatively, 8% of cisgender and heterosexual students said they had used or misused illicit drugs or prescription opioids.

Additionally, LGBTQ+ students were more likely than cisgender and heterosexual students to currently be misusing prescription opioids — such as codeine, Vicodin, OxyContin, Hydrocodone or Percocet — with 7% of LGBTQ+ youth saying they had misused these drugs in the past 30 days compared to 3% of cisgender and heterosexual students.

What’s more, LGBTQ+ youth were more likely to experience violence, according to the survey. Nearly three in 10 LGBTQ+ students said they were bullied at school and nearly two in 10 missed school because of safety concerns.

In the report, the CDC said schools that have put policies and practices in place in place to support LGBTQ+ youth have seen improved mental health and fewer suicidal thoughts and behaviors among this population as well as among heterosexual and cisgender youth.

“We also know how to make things better for LGBTQ+ young people, and so we know that there are things that their schools could be doing to make them feel safer and more supported, and that when their schools do that, not only do LGBTQ+ young people do better, but their heterosexual peers do better as well,” Ethier said. “And so, we are really focused on making sure that we can do everything that we can do to get those effective policies and practices out there for schools and so that they can create better environments for those young people.”

The report also had some positive findings regarding the general U.S. teen population including a decrease in teen girls saying they experienced persistent sadness and hopelessness between 2021 and 2022 and a decrease in reported attempted suicide among Black youth.

“We’re not out of the woods, yet. We clearly have more work to do,” Ethier said. “But what this tells us is that when we focus in on an issue for young people, when we come together, we do what young people need us to do, we can really make a difference and improve their health and well-being.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide – free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call or text the national lifeline at 988.

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(NEW YORK) — The American Red Cross said Monday that it is experiencing an emergency blood shortage, and extreme heat may be partly to blame.

In a press release, the organization said its national blood inventory fell by more than 25% since July 1.

Rolling heat waves and record temperatures have impacted more than 100 drives in the last month in every state where the Red Cross collects blood. This has led to drives ending early or being canceled and fewer people donating and has contributed to a shortfall of more than 19,000 donations in July, based on projected hospital need, according to the Red Cross.

This is in addition to other factors that typically limit blood donations during the summer, such as travel and seasonal activities, the group said.

The Red Cross also suspects that August also will threaten replenishment of the available blood supply due to the start of peak Atlantic hurricane season, which often leads to flooding and power outages that can cancel blood drives and otherwise lead to low donor turnout.

The Red Cross said it supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood donations.

“When we start to have a shortfall in donations that has a really significant impact,” Dr. Baia Lasky, division chief medical officer for the Red Cross, told ABC News. ” This time of year is challenging for us. The demand for blood is constant throughout the year whether its trauma patients, cancer patients.”

Donors with Type O blood are the most needed right now, according to the Red Cross, for two reasons. Type O is the most common blood type, meaning that most people in need of blood will need type O blood.

Secondly, those with an O negative blood type are so-called “universal donors,” meaning their donations can be used in transfusions for any patient with any blood type.

Because the supply of O blood is currently very low, the Red Cross said it had had to reduce distributions of that type to hospitals.

“We will welcome anyone of any blood type, but O negative is considered universal and O positive is nearly universal,” Lasky said. “It’s the most transfused blood type and for patients with unknown blood type for emergency transfusion.”

She also said that the Red Cross is looking for platelet donations, which have a shelf life of five days, and are often critical for trauma and cancer patients.

This is not the first time the American Red Cross has warned of the risk of a blood supply shortage. Earlier this year, the organization it was seeing the lowest number of people giving blood in 20 years, something it is still experiencing.

According to the Red Cross, only 3% of age-eligible people, or about 6.8 million Americans, donate blood every year.

In an attempt to increase donations, the Red Cross is offering anyone who donates blood by August 31 a $20 Amazon gift card by email.

“As you go about your summer plans, remember there are those who are in hospitals,” Lasky said. “Let’s save lives and we really need people to come out and donate.”

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(NEW YORK) — An American man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has become the first patient in the world to use an Apple Vision Pro via an implantable brain-computer interface (BCI).

This means the patient, a 64-year-old man named Mark from western Pennsylvania, is able to use the device using his thoughts rather than using hand or voice commands. Mark is not giving his last name to preserve his privacy.

Mark doesn’t have the use of hands but has been able to play Solitaire, bring up screens to watch movies and TV shows and even send text messages.

He said the implant has given him back some of his independence that he had started to lose as his ALS progressed.

“I lived alone for quite a long time, so I was used to doing all everything for myself and, when you lose that ability, I’m not gonna lie, it’s been a challenge to not be able to do things for myself,” Mark told ABC News. “I can see down the road … of endless possibilities.”

‘A punch in the gut’

In 2020, Mark started realizing that he couldn’t pinch together the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. He originally believed he was beginning to develop a condition like carpal tunnel until he dropped a cup of coffee and decided it was time to visit a doctor.

An orthopedic doctor he was seeing for separate lower back issues suspected he might be experiencing a pinched nerve in his neck and a surgery was planned to fuse four vertebrae together, but the doctor recommended Mark see a neurologist first.

Mark had an appointment in January 2021 and through a series of tests, confirmed he had ALS.

“Unfortunately, that was kind of a punch in the gut,” he said. “Unfortunately, with this disease, it’s 100% fatal but mine fortunately is a little bit slower progression.”

Mark said the paralysis has since climbed up his left arm, across his shoulders and down his right arm, and he’s since also begun to experience some weakness in his neck.

How BCIs work

A BCI is a sensor that is implanted and translates brain signals into an action outside of the body.

There are different types of BCIs. Neuralink — developed by Neuralink Corp., founded by Elon Musk — is a small chip inserted directly into the brain tissue and requires brain surgery.

The BCI developed by the company Synchron involves a device implanted into one of the veins within the brain and is a minimally invasive procedure.

BCIs are designed to be used by people who struggle with neurological disabilities, such as a brain or spinal cord injury, or a degenerative disease like ALS.

“BCI research really started back in the ’90s, so this isn’t a new idea,” Dr. Leah Croll, a neurologist at Maimonides Hospital, in Brooklyn, New York, told ABC News. “But in the last five years or so, technology has just evolved at such a rapid pace, in large part thanks to AI, and so now we’re seeing this explosion of BCI research and applications like we never have before.”

Recently, Synchron announced that it was able to connect its BCI to the Apple Vision Pro, the virtual reality headset. The sensor translates the brain signals, which, in turn, allows the patient to control the headset hands-free.

“It allows them to have some independence and some agency in choosing an immersive experience for themselves,” Croll said.

A representative for Apple did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.

Allowing more independence

Mark worked at his job in the wholesale flower industry until December 2022 when it became apparent that he was beginning to experience weakness in his right arm and could no longer drive.

He got accepted into a drug study that he started at Emory University in Georgia, and continued in western Pennsylvania, when his doctors first informed him about BCIs.

“At the last appointment for that drug study … it was at that appointment that I found out about this study, working with the BCI, and I was all in,” Mark said. “I wanted to be able to help and do what I could. So, I assessed the risk, and it was very minimal, with this particular BCI.”

Mark said the procedure for the implant took place in August 2023 and he became connected to the BCI in October 2023.

He and the contacts from Synchron have been working on tasks with the BCI about twice a week and began working the Apple Vision Pro two months ago.

“I’m playing solitaire so little bit of entertainment there,” Mark said. “I can access Apple TV and HBO Max if I want to watch a movie … there’s an app that we are working with that kind of highlights, different artistic styles and painters and whatnot. So that’s been really interesting for me.”

He went on, “Not being able to use my arms anymore, it’s one thing to lay or sit and watch TV all day, but to be able to do other things as well like playing Solitaire for a little bit or working with other apps, it’s really been a game-changer.”

Croll said there are so many day-to-day activities able-bodied people take for granted.

“Just the simple act of going to the movies for an able-bodied person, they can decide on a whim that they want to go to a movie, and they can just do it,” she said. “For somebody who has a serious neurologic disease, they cannot decide that on a whim. That requires a whole team of people to help get them there, it requires an awful lot of logistical planning. And, of course, the assumption that they can go to the movie theater is predicated on the movie theater, even being able to accommodate their needs at all.”

Croll said BCIs integrated with virtual reality could revolutionize the way that neurologic patients are treated. But there are ethical issues to consider, including privacy concerns and learning more if the technology has any impacts on a patient’s normal brain function.

Mark said he hopes his story encourages other patients who have lost function in their limbs or have become non-verbal.

“It is a punch in the gut when you get a diagnosis like this because there is no cure for this disease,” he said. “I always say I have two ways when I get up in the morning: I can either choose to wallow in self-pity, or I can get up and do what I can to be a resource and a help for others. I choose the latter.”

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(NEW YORK) — Gen X and Millennials in the U.S. are at greater risk for 17 cancers than were previous generations, a major new study revealed.

Researchers at the American Cancer Society analyzed data from millions of people born between 1920 and 1990 who were diagnosed with 34 common types of cancer between 2000 and 2019. They also reviewed death records from the same period.

The cancers on the rise included two types of stomach cancer, small intestine cancer, estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer, ovarian, liver, bile duct and colorectal cancer, uterine and testicular cancer, gall bladder, kidney and pancreatic cancer, and two types of blood cancer: myeloma and leukemia.

A subset of mouth and throat cancers in females, anal cancer in males, and Kaposi sarcoma in males were also increasingly diagnosed in people at a younger age than in previous generations, according to the study.

The cancers with the most rapidly growing incidence among younger generations are thyroid, pancreatic, kidney, small intestine, and liver cancer in females, all of which were diagnosed at rates two to four times greater for people born in 1990 compared to 1955.

Of the cancers that are being detected more frequently, nine had previously shown a decline in successive generations at some point since 1955.

Trends in cancer death rates

While death rates from most of these cancers have decreased or stabilized, younger generations are also dying at higher rates from some of them, including colorectal cancer, which is screened for in the United States.

There could be something different about the biology of cancer in younger patients, suggested William Dahut, MD, a medical oncologist and the American Cancer Society’s chief scientific officer. 

“We probably need to think of different ways to screen for these cancers,” he said.

Kevin Nead, MD, a radiation oncologist and assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, concurred: “We should actively assess and adjust screening practices for younger individuals so that we are not missing opportunities to find these cancers early and cure them,” he told ABC News, but added that screening is a complex topic and further research is needed to identify who is at greatest risk before any changes are made.

Decoding the cancer youth wave

There are various ideas behind why people are being diagnosed with cancer at younger ages.

Ten of the cancers noted in the study are associated with body weight, the researchers wrote, implying a possible link to higher obesity rates in younger generations.

“Perhaps that is a good place to [focus] efforts for people’s overall health,” Nead suggested.

But obesity is only one piece of the puzzle. The study’s authors also suggest exposures to potential carcinogens, and lifestyle habits such as processed food consumption, alcohol use, and lower physical activity levels, may negatively affect the health of younger generations more than it did previous ones.

But Dahut admitted the evidence attributing any specific factor to the findings is still murky.

“It’s almost impossible to point to one thing,” he said. “It’s so easy for us to say ‘yes, it’s obesity’; ‘yes, it’s lack of exercise’; ‘yes, it’s processed food.’ But we do not have the data to point to.”

Some bright spots in the data

Fortunately, not everything the study uncovered is bad news.

The researchers noted substantial declines in smoking-related cancers like lung cancer among young people compared to older generations. The incidence of cervical cancer is also decreasing, likely due to the success of the HPV vaccination.

While the rates of leukemia and myeloma are increasing, the rate at which people are dying from them has declined, which Nead attributed to improvements in treatments.

So, while the overall picture may be concerning, Nead cautioned that it’s important to keep the study’s findings in context.

“It’s a huge period of time and so many things changed … between 1920 to 1990,” he told ABC News, adding, “It is possible that we are just finding more cancer that may have gone undetected before.”

Screening and lifestyle changes essential

Patients should continue to prioritize cancer screening, Dahut advised, in order to minimize the risk of undiagnosed cancers. There is also ample evidence to show decreasing alcohol and tobacco use can lower the risk of cancer, he added.

“This paper doesn’t answer … what are the risk factors for cancer,” said Nead. “But a lot is related to lifestyle factors. One of the best things that you can do … for cancer and other major health issues is take consistent steps towards a healthier lifestyle, whether that’s exercise or diet or body habits.”

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(NEW YORK) — Several New York distributors have recalled ground cinnamon products that were potentially contaminated with increased levels of lead.

According to an announcement posted on the Food and Drug Administration website Monday, American Spices, LLC. has recalled its Spice Class branded ground cinnamon packaged in 7-ounce and 11-ounce plastic PET jars “because it has the potential to be contaminated with elevated levels of lead.”

The recalled cinnamon powder was distributed by the Ozone Park-based company to retailers in New York City between Dec. 1, 2023, and May 15, 2024, and has an expiration date of December 2026.

“The recall was the result of an analysis conducted by New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSAGM) that revealed the product contained elevated levels of lead,” the announcement stated. “The company has ceased the production and distribution of the product as FDA and the company continue their investigation as to what caused the problem.

In small amounts, lead exposure may not lead to any symptoms, but the FDA notes that increased or chronic lead exposure can cause various health issues including hypertension, kidney dysfunction, or cognitive decline and neuropathy effects in adults, and central nervous system damage like seizures and developmental defects such as learning disorders or other long-term health problems in children.

When reached by phone, a supervisor for American Spices, LLC. told ABC News’ Good Morning America the company stopped distribution of the affected products in May, adding that the company has not received any reports of any individuals being sickened by the recalled cinnamon.

In its recall announcement, American Spices advised anyone with the recalled cinnamon product to stop use immediately and return the product to the point of purchase for a full refund.

Also on Monday, Advance Food International, Inc. of Maspeth, New York, issued a company announcement, posted on the FDA website, recalling its Shahzada brand Cinnamon Powder in 7-ounce packaging “because it has the potential to be contaminated with elevated levels of lead.”

The recalled Shahzada brand Cinnamon Powder was distributed to retailers located in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts between Jan. 1 and May 24, 2024, according to Advance Food International. The company said the products were not sold online and that no illnesses have been reported to date in connection with the recalled items.

Like the American Spices recall, the Advance Food recall was initiated following analysis by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, which “revealed the product contained elevated levels of lead,” the announcement stated.

“Consumers who have purchased Shahzada brand Cinnamon Powder 7oz are urged not to consume the product and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund,” the company said. “Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-718-482-0123.”

Monday’s recalls come just days after ALB-USA Enterprises, Inc. issued a recall of its own cinnamon powder products on July 26.

In a company announcement shared to the FDA website, the Bronx, New York-based ALB-USA Enterprises said it was recalling its ALB Flavor brand Cinnamon Powder, “because it potentially contaminated with elevated levels of lead.”

The ALB Flavor brand Ground Cinnamon was distributed to retailers in New York, Connecticut, Michigan and Massachusetts between Dec. 15, 2022, and May 13, 2024. It was not sold online.

“The product is branded under the ALB FLAVOR name and is packaged in a plastic bag with a net weight of 100 grams,” the company wrote in its recall announcement, adding that the brown carton packaging features “an image of cinnamon powder and two cinnamon sticks centered at the bottom.”

The recalled cinnamon powder bears the UPC code 5304000333362, a “Best Before” date of Aug. 30, 2025, and the Lot number LA02, according to the company.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

GMA has reached out to Advance Food International Inc., the distributor of Shahzada branded cinnamon powder bags, and ALB-USA Enterprises, Inc. for comment.

This is not the first time the FDA has investigated elevated metal levels in foods. The federal agency, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, launched an investigation in October 2023 into elevated chromium and lead levels in cinnamon applesauce pouches after children in 44 states who consumed them were reported to have increased lead levels in their blood, which indicated possible acute lead toxicity.

The investigation resulted in the removal of recalled cinnamon applesauce pouches in the U.S. market.

According to the CDC, lead exposure can seriously harm a child’s health and can cause “well-documented adverse effects” including damage to the brain and nerves that can lead to slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems.

“There is also evidence that childhood exposure to lead can cause long-term harm,” the agency states.

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